Baazov reduces his Amaya stakes even more

Former Amaya CEO will face fraud and insider trading charges next November.

Founder and former Amaya Inc. CEO David Baazov reduced his company stakes yet again by selling 12 million shares for US$201 million.

Canada.- David Baazov keeps reducing his stakes in Amaya Inc. as he sold 12 million shares for almost US$201 million (US$16,74 per share). Former company CEO had already sold 7 million shares for US$99.82 million earlier this month.

Before March, Baazov owned around 17 percent of the Canadian online gambling company but he started offloading his share by selling nearly 5 percent of the company and 8.2 percent recently to reach an ownership of 3.8 percent of the company’s issued capital.

The bussinesman left Amaya’s leadership after the Québec securities regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) started investigating him for an insider trading case. Said investigation involved Amaya’s purchase of the Rational Group (owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt) and was the largest insider trading inquiry in Canadian history. Baazov will stand trial next November and will also face fraud charges in a case that might last for more than four months and will involve 50 witnesses.

According to the investigation, Baazov had allegedly traded company stock with two other employees before Amaya bought the Rational Group for a record US$4.9 billion in 2014. He also had plans to take the bussines private but failed to do so as questionable financial backing of the offer forced him to back off three years later.